FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE
May 27, 2013 By
May 27, 2013 By
The war on terror is long over. U.S. Army attorney Lt. Gen. Dana Chipmandeclared last week that the Fort Hood jihad massacre was a “criminal act of a single individual,” not an act of international terrorism. Barack Obama declared the war on terror over yet again last Thursday, saying, “Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless ‘global war on terror’ – but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America.”
Obama announced the beginning of a glorious time of peace: “Today, Osama bin Laden is dead, and so are most of his top lieutenants. There have been no large-scale attacks on the United States, and our homeland is more secure. Fewer of our troops are in harm’s way, and over the next 19 months they will continue to come home. Our alliances are strong, and so is our standing in the world. In sum, we are safer because of our efforts.” To be sure, he described small networks of ill-defined terrorists who wish to do us harm, but expressed every confidence that those networks would soon be dismantled, and aren’t that much of a problem in the first place.
And so the era of peace is dawning. The Taliban, as the Vice President has said, are not the enemy of the United States. Military and intelligence training materials have been scrubbed of any hint that there is any Islamic jihad against the U.S. As far as the U.S. Government is concerned, there isn’t. The Obama Administration has applauded and in some cases actively aided the “Arab Spring” that has brought Sharia rule to Egypt, Libya and elsewhere, and is stepping up aid to the “Arab Spring” jihadists in Syria. Meanwhile, it is abetting through the courts efforts to procure special privileges and accommodations for Muslims in American businesses and educational institutions.
We are at peace, except for our hearts-and-minds operation appealing to what General John Allen termed the “Noble People of Afghanistan,” which will soon be over. All is well. And so in these millennial days of peace, we look back in gratitude upon those who sacrificed all to preserve our nation and our freedom, and marvel at the wondrous times in which we live, when sacrifice is no longer necessary.
So much for fantasy.
In reality, it’s Memorial Day, and the jihad is stronger than ever, more confident than ever, and we are everywhere in denial, with our government and law enforcement officials, as well as the mainstream media, more clueless or complicit than ever. The millennial time of peace in which we live and which Obama tried to sell us last week is illusory, and that will do nothing but become clearer and clearer in the coming days and months.
For example, according to Obama, “the best way to prevent violent extremism is to work with the Muslim American community – which has consistently rejected terrorism – to identify signs of radicalization, and partner with law enforcement when an individual is drifting towards violence.”
The Muslim American community has consistently rejected terrorism? Four separate studies since 1998 have all found that 80% of U.S. mosques were teaching jihad, Islamic supremacism, and hatred and contempt for Jews and Christians. There are no countervailing studies that challenge these results. In 1998, Sheikh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, a Sufi leader, visited 114 mosques in the United States. Then he gave testimony before a State Department Open Forum in January 1999, and asserted that 80% of American mosques taught the “extremist ideology.”
Then there was the Center for Religious Freedom’s 2005 study, and theMapping Sharia Project’s 2008 study. Each independently showed that upwards of 80% of mosques in America were preaching hatred of Jews and Christians and the necessity ultimately to impose Islamic rule.
And in the summer of 2011 came another study showing that only 19% of mosques in U.S. don’t teach jihad violence and/or Islamic supremacism.
But such realities do not matter. Fantasy prevails everywhere. That’s why a huge adjustment in our political and military culture is called for if we are going to prevail. The only way we can truly honor the fallen today is to call things by their right names, see things clearly, and begin to move toward doing what is necessary to defend ourselves and constitutional liberties.
As dark as the picture appears to be, an increasing number of people are waking up. And we must keep fighting. To do anything less would be to dishonor those we are endeavoring to honor today.
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About Robert Spencer
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book, Did Muhammad Exist?, is now available.
